Endurance

I knew Saturday would be a long day. It was one of those days you look forward to but slightly dread at the same time. From a workout perspective I would do nothing - yes, my recovery is slow and therefore Running would continue it's merry little vacation. Fear not, once 'vacation' is over, Running will get it's butt kicked once more. Yup, lil' booty kickin comin on down (word choice clearly influenced by Heavy B). Saturday's line up went something like this - Invest in Youth garage sale 6:30 - 2:00, Power Bar clinic at 4:00 followed by a bike clinic at Gregg's Cycle in Lynnwood.

Garage Sales - they can be a love/hate relationship. The set up and take down sucks while the in-between can be tolerated. There is so much prep work involved - yikes!  Robin volunteered her house and the Multisport and Tri team stepped up to donate items, price, and man the sale. It was quite impressive to see so many people help out. Sharon's daughters Savannah and Caroline made posters, cookies, and brownies - cool!  Robin's son Austin took to pricing like he was born for the task. We had a conversation about aggressive pricing as people like to offer something lower and feel like they got a bargain - yet we still get what we're after. Oh my, he was on fire - cracked me up!!!  We served dogs, chips, and soda for a small donation and ran out! Funny thing about garage sales, when you talk to people they generally talk about garage sales like they do Wal-Mart. No one claims to ever go there yet the parking lot is always full. Interesting....I had a blast. Oddly I seem to enjoy "selling" at garage sales. You see someone eyeing an item and you slide right in for the kill. It doesn't always work but you can have fun regardless. Or is it irregardless? At any rate, before I knew it the clock showed 1:30 and it was time to blast. I knew the remaining teammates would be doing the take down and pack up - yuck. I would say better them than me but they'll likely read this blog so I'll keep that to myself :)

Power Bar clinic. Sharon set us up with the regional Power Bar rep Laura and the clinic was at my house - easy for me! Laura is quite the athlete and has competed in the Ironman in Kona (impressive!) and every time I've met her her is up and energized. She's a twenty something kid that loves what she does and it shows. She whipped up some protein shakes, gave us a quiz (which I sucked at), and had boxes of free samples for us. The information was timely and we appreciated her coming out. I don't know if she expected to have leftover samples but once the dust settled and we stepped away from the table, there was nothing left but torn cardboard packages and a lone water bottle rolling toward safety. I love free!!!  As she left she slid me a container of Ironman Perform - oh yeah baby, I will be kickin da booty...

Gregg's Cycle bike clinic. Sweet mother....impressive. This was after hours so it was only us and Rob (manager) and Andrew (elite biker). First off, they had a spread of food for us - laid out in a well organized color coded cup and napkin manner. Did they know I was coming? Then there was a row of the most incredible bikes I have ever seen. Trek, Cervelo, Specialized....wow, they were cool.  Rob talked about the differences between bikes and during his presentation I decided that a road bike would be my choice.  A friend has a deal on a bike for me but once I was fitted it was clear that the 56 would be too big for me as I am a 51-52. A bike is a big deal to me because I have decided to compete in a duathlon (run/bike/run). Similar to a triathlon except you run twice and there is no water. No water. Wait!  I have not given up on a Tri and I swim twice a week to try and 'get it'.  Rob found a  new 2010 model with a deep discount he'll get to the store and Wednesday night I will ride a few bikes and see what happens. I will buy one. Then bike clipless pedals....then bike shoes....then a helmet....then bike shorts to protect my, er...my valuables. Yes, feel free to send your donations today. It appears that I will be eating tuna from a can for a while! However, I believe that if I can be competitive on the bike for my age division, I can do pretty well in the duathlon as I'm not too bad in the running category. I really appreciated Gregg's and specifically Rob for opening his store to us and for all he has done to help us.

Of course a monster thank you goes out to Sharon for setting these clinics up for us. Not just these two but all the ones we're had and those coming down the road. I could mention the vast list of partners she has set up for us but the list is way too long. She does this on her own time without the thought or purpose of personal gain. She excels at creating relationships that are symbiotic in nature and is quite the business woman. I'm glad she's the one driving the program and appreciate all those who help her as well as those who are participating in the programs - together the journey will be both fun and amazing. This year will challenge my fitness and mental strength. I know there will be setbacks as that is part of the game we play. I will give it my best, support my friends, and for you - I'm all in.